Management Team

Management Team

Edward M. Smith

President and Chief Executive Officer, Ullico Inc.

On January 3, 2011, Edward M. Smith was elevated to Chief Executive Officer of Ullico Inc. after serving as its President since May of 2008. Ullico Inc., founded in 1927, provides insurance and financial solutions for labor unions, union employers, union benefit funds, and union members. Prior to becoming President, Mr. Smith served as Ullico Inc.’s Executive Vice President from January 2007 until May 2008.

Before joining Ullico, Smith had a long and distinguished career at the Laborers' International Union of North America. After joining LiUNA at age 13, he was elected Business Manager of Laborer's Local 773 at age 21. Smith later became International Union Vice President and Midwest Regional Manager serving over 58,000 members. He also served as Assistant to the General President.

Smith formerly served as Chairman of the Illinois State Board of Investment, Chairman of the National Alliance for Fair Contracting, and a member of the Illinois Department of Labor Advisory Board. He has also been a key benefactor to the Therapy Center in Carterville, Illinois which provides free services for children with disabilities.

Smith was the first member of the Laborers International Union (LiUNA) to graduate from the National Labor College with a bachelor’s degree. Smith went on to graduate from the Harvard University Trade Union Program. He is now an active board member for Laborers’ Charitable Foundation, Laborers CARE, Jobs with Justice, America's Agenda-Healthcare for All, and serves as a trustee for the AFL-CIO Staff Retirement Plan.

Management Team

David J. Barra

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Ullico Inc.

David J. Barra joined Ullico Inc. as Chief Financial Officer in March 2008. He brings more than 30 years of senior financial management experience with a proven track record of success in all aspects of the corporate finance and accounting sectors.

He earned his Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Illinois.

Management Team

Brian J. Hale

Senior Vice President and COO, Ullico Inc.

Mr. Hale serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Ullico Inc. In this capacity, he works closely with the Ullico senior management and board of directors. He is responsible for a broad range of day-to-day operations of the company. He is intimately involved in business planning and cultivating strategic partnerships for the organization. He serves on the Ullico Infrastructure Fund (UIF) Opportunity Review Committee and on the senior management team for Ullico Inc.

Prior to joining Ullico Inc. in June of 2008, Mr. Hale worked for the Laborers' International Union of North America’s (LIUNA) Tri-Funds for six years. His responsibilities included working with LIUNA and their signatory contractors on a broad range of issues in the construction industry that promoted Labor/Management cooperation.

Mr. Hale is a graduate of The University of Tennessee with a B.S. in Finance and he holds his M.B.A. from Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee. He also holds the Series 7 and 63 designations along with being a licensed producer in Life and Health insurance.

Management Team

Patrick McGlone

Patrick McGlone joined Ullico Inc.'s Law Department in 2002, where he was charged with overseeing the company's litigation matters. In 2008, Mr. McGlone was promoted to Vice President and Deputy General Counsel. He was appointed Senior Vice President and General Counsel in February 2012. Before coming to Ullico, Mr. McGlone had been in-house counsel at U.S. Office Products Company and Mobil Corporation. Earlier in his career, he was a commercial litigator at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the law firm of Hunton & Williams LLP.

Mr. McGlone was elected to serve as the President of the District of Columbia Bar for the 2017-2018 year. He has also been active in the American Bar Association; is a former member of the Board of Directors of the District of Columbia Bar Foundation; and is former Vice President of the Council for Court Excellence, a non-partisan civic organization dedicated to improving the District of Columbia's justice system. Mr. McGlone previously served on the Board of Directors of Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc., a non-profit that provides HIV/AIDS testing, prevention and counseling services to the African American community. He has been the recipient of the Us Helping Us Chairman's Award, the Outstanding Community Service Award of the Association of Corporate Counsel National Capital Region chapter, a Champions and Visionaries Award from the National Law Journal/Legal Times, and the Legal Champion Award of the Washington Business Journal.

Mr. McGlone is a graduate of The George Washington University Law School (with High Honors) in Washington, DC and Fordham College (summa cum laude) in New York City. He is the proud son of a longtime Teamsters shop steward and the brother of a trade union member.

Management Team

Tina J. Fletcher

President, Ullico Casualty Group, Inc.

Tina Fletcher is the President of Ullico Casualty Group. Ms. Fletcher oversees all daily activities of Ullico's property and casualty department, which includes supervising teams of underwriting, claims, and marketing professionals. She also manages Ullico Casualty Group's underwriting system and composes policy language to keep coverage up-to-date with the needs of the Union workplace. She is a frequent speaker on Professional Liability insurance for unions, multiemployer funds, and joint apprenticeship training committees. Ms. Fletcher joined Ullico as a Senior Underwriter in 2009.

Ms. Fletcher previously worked for United Educators Insurance from May 1999 to November 2008 as Director of Underwriting. In this role, she managed a $130 million book of liability insurance and a staff of seven underwriters. Previous to United Educators, she served as underwriter for Victor O. Schinnerer, a subsidiary of Marsh, and as a Nationwide agent.

Ms. Fletcher graduated from Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Michigan with a B.S. in Marketing. Ms. Fletcher has a P&C Producers' license in the state of West Virginia and is working towards her RPLU.

She lives in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia with her husband and daughter Emma.

Management Team

Joseph R. Linehan

Joseph R. Linehan has been an integral member of the Ullico family of companies since 1984 when he joined the company as a Group Life and Health Underwriter. Since then, Mr. Linehan has held a number of investment management positions with increasing responsibility over his nearly 30 years with the company, including Security Analyst and Money Market Trader. Most recently he served as Vice President responsible for the fixed income and private equity portfolios of the company, managing approximately $600 million in assets.

In August 2011, Mr. Linehan was named President of Ullico Investment Advisors Inc. (UIA). In this role, he is responsible for managing the Investment Services division for Ullico Inc. and for overseeing the investment operations of UIA, including the monitoring and selection of sub-advisors for third party assets.

Mr. Linehan earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and his MBA in Finance from the University of Maryland, College Park. He holds the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) designations of General Securities Principal (Series 24), General Securities Representative (Series 7), Limited Representative – Investment Banking (Series 79) and Agent (Series 63).

A Washington, D.C. native, Mr. Linehan currently resides in Rockville, Maryland with his wife and three sons.

Management Team

Stephanie B. Whalen

President, The Union Labor Life Insurance Company

Stephanie Whalen is President of The Union Labor Life Insurance Company (Union Labor Life). Ms. Whalen leads the company's life and health group, including underwriting, sales, claims, marketing and operations functions. Union Labor Life serves labor unions, Health and Welfare funds and union members by providing signature medical stop loss insurance and services as well as group life and supplemental insurance. Prior to her role as president, Ms. Whalen served as Vice President of Operations for seven years, responsible for the day-to-day life and health operations of Union Labor Life.

She began her career with Ullico in 1998 as a production assistant in the Direct Marketing division, and has held various other positions during her tenure with Union Labor Life. She has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, and is a member of a union family.

Ms. Whalen’s commitment to learning and personal growth is marked by her earning her bachelor’s degree and following with the completion of executive training at the Wharton Business School. She also holds several insurance industry designations including AMLI (Associate, Life Management Institute), AIRC (Associate, Insurance Regulatory Compliance), and ACS (Associate, Customer Service).

Active in her community, she has also received various awards over the years for her work with charities and nonprofits. Those awards include the Bikes for Tikes Volunteer Award in 2000, WJLA Toyota Working Woman of the Year Award in 2001 and the AOL/Unilever Chief Everything Officer Award in 2006.

A Washington, D.C. native, Ms. Whalen resides in Alexandria, Virginia and enjoys cheering for the Washington Nationals baseball team. She is a mother of three, military spouse, avid long-distance runner, and ongoing student of the insurance profession. She is actively engaged in preparing for her FLMI, and encourages others to grow, develop and perform in every aspect of their lives.

Management Team

Herbert A. Kolben

Herbert Kolben is Senior Vice President of the Real Estate Investment Group responsible for the management of all mortgage and real estate investments including Separate Account J and various privately offered funds concentrating on real estate debt. Mr. Kolben has over 40 years of real estate experience including 21 with Union Labor Life and over 14 with Citibank N.A. where he was a Senior Credit Officer and Regional Vice President. At Citibank, his responsibilities included all real estate functions throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeastern states as well as Director of Equities/East with responsibility for equity originations and capital markets interfacing for the eastern U.S. and Europe. Prior to joining Ullico, Mr. Kolben was a Senior Vice President at MNC Financial responsible for the administration, restructuring and disposition of a $1.9 billion portfolio. Mr. Kolben started his career with First Mortgage Investors REIT based in Miami, FL. He holds an MBA as well as a Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.

Ullico's experienced management team provides a blend of extensive business expertise with deep knowledge and understanding of unions and their challenges. Fiercely passionate about our labor clients, leadership at Ullico is committed to developing innovative financial & risk solutions and delivering value to clients.